After almost thirty years, Mercedes Benz is about to bring back the SLC model as a sporty coupe to rival the mighty Porsche 911.

This yet to be confirmed car, as the name suggests, fills the gap between the SL and the SLS supercar. It will be based on the next generation Mercedes SL so the production costs will remain reasonable, but it will be styled as a baby SLS. A dramatic and evocative front-engined coupe which if this rendering right here is any indication, will look almost as good as the Aston Martin Vantage. It should have the same magnificent image as the old SLC.

The new SLC, which is apparently due in 2014 with a roadster variant to follow in 2016, will be engineered by AMG. But it won’t like a beefed up AMG SL. There will be more sportiness in its blood, even if it means sacrificing some of the lairy fun that AMG cars are renowned for. It’s not likely to get four-wheel-drive though.

Price-wise, the Mercedes SLC will be in the same boat as the 911 which means a base price in the neighborhood of $100,000.

Source (and rendering): InsideLine (via Autocar)